The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to hall effect sensors, and, more particularly, to hall effect sensor cores including more than one air gap.
Hall effect current sensors are well known in the field of electronics. A hall effect current sensor is used to determine current passing through a current conductor. A typical hall effect current sensor allows a current conductor to pass through a central opening of a core. The core contains a single air gap where a circuit board is mounted. On the circuit board a hall effect device is mounted for measuring the flux density across the air gap in the core. The flux density across the air gap is linear and proportional to the current flowing through the conductor of a well-designed hall effect current sensor.
When the current passing through the conductor positioned in the central opening of the core surpasses a critical value, the flux density is at a peak and the core becomes saturated. The saturation of the core results in a non-linear output from the hall effect current sensor and reduced accuracy of the hall effect current sensor. Multiple methods can be employed to increase the peak flux density of a core. The size of the core and the gap in the core can be increased. Also, a step down transformer can be included in the device. These methods result in a larger device that is more expensive to manufacture and takes up more space.
It would, therefore, be desirable to have hall effect sensor cores that provide improved current sensing performance, but without the drawbacks associated with known hall effect sensor cores.